Secretaries exerting pressure to remove ‘cooling period’ from Civil Service Bill: Pandey

KATHMANDU: CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Rajendra Pandey has claimed that pressure exerted by some secretaries was stalling the Federal Civil Service Bill.

Speaking in the House of Representatives meeting on Thursday, Pandey alleged that secretaries have threatened collective resignation to pressure the government into removing the provision of a ‘cooling period’ from the bill. “I have heard that 25 secretaries have warned of resigning collectively to put pressure on the government to scrap the ‘cooling period’ provision in the Bill,” Pandey said. “The government should not bow to such threats and must immediately present the bill in Parliament.”

He added that such threatening behavior obstructing policy-making is objectionable. “If 25 secretaries resign, new joint secretaries will get opportunities. Such warnings should not be entertained,” he added. “If policies start being shaped by the whims of employees, it will create a crisis in the democratic governance system.”